Cairn’s Course
Artist
Thomas Sayre
Raleigh, North Carolina
Date Installed
2021
Medium
Colored concrete
Artist Website
Location
Western Branch: between Guilford Avenue and West Friendly Avenue
Made Possible By
The Cemala Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts
Description
This monumental earthcasting by Thomas Sayre springs from a recognition of this unique place in Greensboro, both as an urban wetland and the site of its first cotton warehouse. Cairns are often used on trails to mark place by stacking local stones to form vertical markers. Here, the stones were formed in earth cast molds dug into the adjacent land across the College Branch Stream. Replete with the colors, textures, and artifacts of the land, these cairns call attention to and mark the renewal of the waterway, which is also home to the surprising array of aquatic life depicted in the surrounding terrazzo stepping stones.
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